Amy

Amy adores bee dogs, avoids meat, and has a love affair with Boursin, pesto, and paneer. That's what happens when you grow up in sunny California. Amy has traveled the world with the goal of eating a lot of delicious things, like smazeny syr a hranolky. She's also a certified ESL instructor and teaches 2nd grade in South Korea.

Latest Reviews by Amy:

Ready to Eat Shahi Paneer

February 26, 2007 | Reviewer: Amy

This review comes from our foreign correspondent, Amy. She’s currently in South Korea ~~working for an unscrupulous test preparation company~~ taking a vacation before she starts her new job as a teacher. We miss her a lot.

Ready to Eat - Shahi Paneer

Price: 4300 won=$4.50
(probably cheaper in the states)
Servings per container: 3
Information below is per serving
Calories: 170
Total Fat: 18%, 12g
Sodium: 25%, 600mg
Carbs: 3%, 10g
Protein: 5g

Ready to Eat says: Chunks of cottage cheese in a mouth-watering gravy, cooked in true Mughal tradition

Amy says: I picked this little number up at my local Foreign Food Mart, although said Foreign Food Mart is in Seoul, I have reason to believe that this product may be available elsewhere (i.e.the U.S) due to the fact that everything on the package is in English with a dash of sanskrit. The picture on the box was rather enticing and it is made with 100% natural ingredients . . . bless those Indians and their naturalness. Additionally, everything on the list of ingredients was easily identifiable. This is important because living in a foreign country means eating a lot of indescribable items. Although the box says there is not cooking required I instinctively knew that the contents would be tastier if heated, so heat I did.

Upon emptying the pouch I noticed a disparity between the picture on the box and what lay inside. The paneer was rather gray and meager. The cubes of this delicious cheese were approximately the size of the cubes that comprise the Rubik’s cube and there were maybe 10 of them, maybe. That said, the paneer did taste decent, but it was inferior to the paneer that you can get in the Trader Joe’s indian boxes. Fortunately, the sauce packed a nice zing. I am always pleased with the zest inherent to pre-packaged Indian food.

The serving size was enough for myself and my ravenous boyfriend, though we did have lots of naan to soak it up (sorry guys, I made the naan myself, but I do recommend the Trader Joe’s naan. It is tasty and a lot less work). I think this dish could be improved by adding some lentils to give it a bit more substance The sauce was a bit runny, but other than that and the scanty paneer portion it was a delightful meal.

P.S. Sorry if I plugged Trader Joe’s too much in this review, I have been without my beloved trader for almost a year and I miss him dearly.

Filed Under Assorted, Vegetarian | 5 Comments

Combino Macaroni Cheese

December 12, 2006 | Reviewer: Amy

Combino Macaroni Cheese

Price: 0.69 Euros
Serving: 100g, about 1/4 of the can
Calories: 115
Fat: 6.3g
Sodium: 500mg
Protein: 4.5g

Amy says: Well folks, HeatEatReview.com has officially gone international and Abi has designated me your foreign correspondent. The Combino Macaroni Cheese (no, it is not macaroni and cheese) is available in Ireland, but I picked it up at a German market which leads me to believe that it may be available in Deutscheland as well. As I type this, Yanni the pug is keeping me company. Yanni was deeply covetous of the macaroni cheese, but I refused to succumb to her begging for HeatEatReview’s sake and consumed the entire can. Fortunately for me, there are no daily percentages on european products so while I knew what I was eating terrible for my mind, body and maybe even soul, I had no idea just how bad it was. Ignorance is bliss.

This is the second mac and cheese item I have reviewed for this site and let me tell you, this one came in second place. The sauce was runny and the noodles were mushy. The taste wasn’t terrible, but after partaking in some of my auntie’s homemade mac and cheese over the weekend I should have known better than to start my international reviews on this low note. Perhaps I am being overly critical, I did finish off the entire can, despite its’ recommendation that I eat only 1/4 of it. It reminded me of a crappy watered-down version of Chef Boy Ardee and Mr. Ardee would not get 5 stars on this HeatEatReview.com, unless maybe Nicole was reviewing the meal. She loves that junk. I would eat this meal again seeing as how it was under a dollar and I am incredibly broke at the moment, but if you have a euro or so to spare, I would recommend getting uhhh, a different European macaroni and cheese. I bid you foodies adieu until my next review.

(Curious abut what someone from the UK has to say about this product, check out the UK Macaroni Cheese blog.–Abi)

Filed Under International Foods, Mac and Cheese, Two Stars, Vegetarian | 1 Comment

Trader Joe’s Pesto Tortellini Bowl

September 13, 2006 | Reviewer: Amy

None of the information in the review has been confirmed. So, we may just be adding to the Trader Joe’s rumor mill. That or they really do sell other brands with replacement packaging.

Trader Joe's Pesto Tortellini Bowl

Price: $2.79
Serving: 1 package, 9.5 oz.
Calories: 470
Fat: 35%, 23g
Sodium: 26%, 630mg
Protein: 18g
Fiber: 12%, 3g

Trader Joe says: Made with organic pasta, extra virgin olive oil and basil.

Amy says: Sound the alarm folks! I am hittin’ you with (what i consider to be) some super duper news. Are you ready? Brace yourself foo! OK, well, once upon a time in San Diego (why the locale matters I know not) I was chatting with my cousin about the merits of Amy’s Kitchen and Trader Joe’s. I love these companies passionately for all of the goodness they have dropped into my life. My cousin worked for a food broker that dealt with Amy’s and she informed me that sometimes Trader Joe’s would get Amy’s products and put their own packaging on them. If you haven’t figured out what I am insinuating here then well, I suppose I will have to spell it out for you. This tortellini bowl is essentially Amy’s, though I checked it out and the nutrition varies a touch, but the taste, hot diggity!!!

I never got to review Amy’s tortellini bowl. I was daunted by Abi’s tremendous review, but it seems that fate works in mysterious and wonderful ways so here we go!

Trader Joe’s tortellini bowl is what every frozen meal should strive to be in terms of yumminess. The sauce is basil-ly delcious and the tortellini, although not al dente, were cooked evenly and had delightful cheesy center. Also, Abi noted that Amy’s tortellini got a little tough in the microwave. I paid extra attention to this while inhaling my meal and I only found one that was slightly chewy. It seems that Trader Joe’s was able to fix the problem which Amy’s presented, or maybe my microwave is better than the one at work. The best part of this discovery was, well, I guess that it existed at all, but also, the price. Even with the raincheck from Giant the Amy’s tortellini bowl is often more expensive.

The drawbacks here are that I don’t think every Trader Joe’s carries this product as I only found it upon my return to California and unfortunately, good products do not make for funny reviews. I am sure that Abi will make every attempt to track one or eight of these bad boys down at every Trader Joe’s in the DC metropolitan area. I wish you luck on this mission.

[I’ve made an attempt to track down this bowl at multiple Trader Joe’s in the DC area. I’m sorry dear readers, but I haven’t found them at the Fairfax, Alexandria, DC (woo!), or Silver Spring Trader Joe’s. I’m a little bummed about this and beginning to think that maybe this product is only available on the West Coast. –Abi Jones, Ed.]

[These are definitely available at the Foggy Bottom Trader Joe’s in DC, and the Menlo Park and Mountain View locations in CA. - Ed.]

Filed Under Four Stars, Trader Joe's Reviews, Vegetarian | 8 Comments

Amy’s Kitchen Asian Noodle Stir Fry

July 19, 2006 | Reviewer: Amy

When Amy’s Kitchen says “distinctive flavor . . . for which Asian cuisine is famous” they mean “this tastes like ginger”..

Amy's Kitchen Asian Noodle Stir Fry

Price: $2.29
Serving: 1 Meal, 10 oz.
Calories: 290
Fat: 11%, 7g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 28%, 630mg
Protein: 9g
Carbs: 17%, 50g
Fiber: 16%, 4g
WW Points: 6 Points

Amy’s Kitchen says: The tender organic rice noodles, combined with a traditional chinese sauce, organic mushrooms and organic vegetables give Amy’s Asian Noodle Stir-Fry the distinctive flavor and texture for which Asian cuisine is famous.

Amy says: I ate this meal a while ago and forgot to submit a review. Details of the meal are a bit fuzzy, but I do remember several irrelevant facts and they are as follows: 1-I heated this and then brought it to Dupont Circle to eat, it was a beautiful spring day and 2-I picked out the broccoli because I loathe broccoli. This may be because when you steam broccoli it smells like fart and the odor is very strong. I have never been able to get past the funky smell of steamed broccoli and will not eat broccoli in any form.

There are also two things I remember about this meal (and yes, they are relevant) that left quite an impression on my brain and taste buds. Item 1-when Amy’s says “distinctive flavor . . . for which Asian cuisine is famous” they mean “this tastes like ginger”. I do enjoy ginger, but other flavors come to mind when I think of Asian food, such as soy sauce, sesame oil, and teriyaki sauce. This entire meal tasted like ginger. Mayhaps I would have enjoyed the broccoli had I left it in as it would have tasted just like ginger as well. I am thinking about Abi as I write this, she is passionate about her ginger, mayhaps she would be enamored with this bowl. This leads me to Item 2-the noodles to vegetable ratio was not ideal for me. Even after I had removed the broccoli I ran out of noodles long before I ran out of vegetables. I like a bit of noodle and vegetable in every bite, but once the noodles were gone all I could do was stare morosely at the remaining veggies.

Overall, the meal was decent, but not Amy’s finest. I love me some Amy’s, but have learned to stick to meals that somehow involve dairy.

Filed Under 6 WW Points, Amy's Kitchen Reviews, Cholesterol Free, Three Stars, Vegan, Vegetarian | 1 Comment